Not really a surprise that 48% of proerties are in trust. Tax avoidance at it finest. At the same time, and may I add in my book no difference in terms of crime intention, gangs have doubled in numvers and a softly, dont rattle the cage approach is applied. Very soon its Mad Max country and it should not be surprising that the educated move to Australia. It has already started.
The video clips of some of those recent gang funeral processions are pretty reminiscent of Mad Max scenes, as are some of those reports of Auckland & East Coast drive-by shoot ups.
You could be right that the educated are moving to Oz, Fw – but what’s your evidence that it’s already started? Anecdata or official statistics?
Two of my colleagues are already on the move and they tell me that they know others do this too, so its info from the ground up – so to speak. Its not surprising really.
There is also likely to be a concerted move to smaller towns and rural areas by those attempting to avoid future big city lockdowns. Panic may well rule for quite a while as the spread continues.
My very first Gezza's Stream wildlife video, using the 2 megapixel camera of my 3G Samsung clamshell cell phone. July 2016.
I'm so embarrassed that I called these two ducks Miss OB (Orange Beak) and Miss GB (Green Beak), thinking they were both mallard hens. I know now that OB is a hybrid mallard/grey duck drake. They were a breeding couple for that breeding season.
The pair of them took an instant like to my back yard and waddled all around it for several months, looking for & finding insects in the garden and lawns.
Sidebar heading is: All the reasons Shane Reti shouldn't lead National sound like positives
And slipping down the National Party ranks, there is Dr Shane Reti.
A bit of a geek, a public service nerd, not much of a politician, and a guy whose biggest weakness is that he wants to see real work be done.
He’s a man who’s been doing the hard yards in Northland – vaccinating and winning supporters from te ao Māori – and a man whose leadership style could have given the Opposition a very fresh breath of air.
That his differences, skills and style were not even considered strengths for the leadership must leave him pondering – maybe it’s time to take those assets somewhere they will be respected.
This may have been innovative having two deputy leaders of the National Party, Reti and Willis. Were Luxon not to work out Reti could step in as leader and Willis to become the deputy leader.
I would hazard a guess that notjohn is Christopher Luxon (he’s NOT John Key).
And that the reference to passing buses is a euphemism for Willis’s ambition.
Just the man for the …job!-his faith is a personal matter,his property investments are a…personal matter.But he turned around Air NZ and Unilever Canada….believe it…or not.
How about they pull a Biden and give any welfare dependent family a Christmas bonus – anywhere in our fair land – of say an extra week of benefit and then let these people choose how to spend it?
But no, this is the council owned business recovery package, and the rest of the businesses that have been hit the hardest, the ones that actually have to work to make money, oh well seize the day sucker, and make it work. You are of no importance to Labour.
Dubbed "Explore Tāmaki Makaurau this summer", the $37.5 million reactivation package includes $12m in vouchers to attractions and discounts to Auckland's council facilities, funding for events and food support.
Up to 350,000 people would benefit from the scheme, with the allocation process to take into account postcodes.
Businesses can register to be part of the Local Activation Programme to organise free events for the public and should use their imagination and creativity to make it work for them as part of their recovery after over 100 days of lockdown.
"Hospitality is not included so it is up to businesses to seize the day and play their part in reactivating the city."
that is not 'business' support that is throwing money at the Council, another lottery for poor and the desperate to maybe mabye get a ticket in (works so well in MIQ), some money for food banks, and it is cynical to the hilt. No kindness here. No siree, the lady don't support the poor. She supports the rich, she knows where her next job will come from.
They could have announced a little stimulus payment for those that have the least amount of money to spend, for those that lived the last three month on food parcels from charity, but hey now, they need a little Hunger Game lottery is a sexy thing, a whole lot a money thrown at some Council 'attractions', and i am sure that Grant Boy will be so happy if this scheme will also result in an 'underspend'.
Oh and it wont start before Jan 15.
Labour, can't won't will not do a nice thing for those that desperately need a nice thing. The poor. Or the businesses that actually are a week short of closing.
"So many "beautiful people" are reported to be rather nasty."
I knew quite a few of them in my younger days. They were not necessarily nasty, but were often extremely arrogant and they believed themselves to be superior to the rest of the population. It mattered who your parents were and what school you went to. In reality they were incredibly boring people with little personality. I learnt to avoid them like the plague.
Well perhaps its good for the lottery winners but the news is not so good for those on fixed income struggling with rapidly rising inflation and a council that uses its residents to fund its green wash,
Gang affiliations around the country seem to be growing at a fast rate, with more than 8000 gang members now officially recorded in New Zealand.
That is almost double the figure recorded by authorities five years ago, when there were 4420 people recorded as gang members on the national gang list.
A total of 8061 gangsters have been identified in New Zealand as of June, according to data given under the Official Information Act to Stuff.
Police add to the list using information from search warrants and operations or simply from someone with a gang tattoo or with a gang patch.
Good territory for National's new Police spokesperson under Luxon to focus on & say what they're going to do about the problem 1. short term, 2. long term.
Being hunted in every breath, being shunned by 99% of society, low likelihood you will get any reward for your work other than a wage, high likelihood of serious beatings and injury, unlikely to have long term relationships, unlikely to get ahead in life, high likelihood your entire group will be attacked without warning, high likelihood of injury causing permanent disability, reasonably high risk of long period of jail, very high likelihood of poverty in old age, high likelihood of shorter than average lifespan.
Sounds more fun than going to work in some dull job with no real hope of excitement or challenge bringing home just enough to pay off some rich fallas investment for him, or get your own house with a mortgage so big you'll be doing well to pay it off by the time you retire
Isn't that the intel list of suspected gang associates? The one it's easy to get onto, hard to get off, and only started a few years ago? The one Mickeysavage wrote a post on?
Five years ago was 2016. When the Gang list was first created. Apparently, they've doubled the number on the list since they counted off the ones they already knew about when they compiled the initial list.
How many, I wonder, have been involved for years, just not obviously enough to be added in 2016? How many happen to be, e.g. co-offenders with low-level gang affiliates who got nabbed doing their own thing, rather gang activity? How many have been kicked out or left the gangs since then, but are still on the gang list?
The list is a good intelligence tool. Having it centralised means the information isn't trapped in regional silos, taking ages to figure out the purpose of an individual from the Hawkes' Bay coming into Marlborough.
But it's not a census of gang membership. The Herald is writing cheques their data can't cash.
It's clear now that lockdowns cannot practically stop Delta (here or overseas) and come with significant and negative side effects across the board, including missed cancer screenings and appointments and a range of mental health outcomes.
My young nephew, who already was a somewhat cautious and anxious little chap, is now such a fear filled, reserved boy. At an age he should be exploring and testing boundaries, he's developed to be withdrawn and anxious. Outside = danger danger and he clings to his mask like Linus does to his blanket. It breaks my heart sometimes and I shudder to think of the stunted mental development across children and what this will bring to the future.
It's also becoming clearer that the modelling on Covid infections and ICU was hopelessly over-egged. It's understandable in a way – better to be the scientist who cried wolf than didn't cry at all. Especially when you're being paid $6 million like Professor of Physics Hendy's little venture was.
But this mis-assessment and groupthink happened here and abroad. UK's Freedom Day was meant to be a catastrophic but it wasn't and the UK is looking better positioned for the winter than many European nations. Yes, it came at a cost, but so has our course! (Not least the mass human tragedy that is MIQ).
What's the damage here, in our radical Government policies? Immense, even apart from our main city reduced to a zombietown for months. There is a radical repositon of freedom as conditional, state coercion as forever necessary response (remember, Labour won't be in power forever..), human rights viewed as a barrier not an enabler, techno-solutions embraced to reduce humanity to a single variable, and society already prone to this now let loose on segregation and demonisation. The public interest narrowly redefined by a narrow group of elites.
At what point do people say – 'enough of your ridiculous traffic lights, I'm not buying this false narrative of "you're a Libertarian granny killer" simply because I believe other values (and quality of lives) matter and that loss is part of life we need to rationally asses and respond to and return our democracy'. Summer is the right time to return, as we sit at an extremely low risk level for most Kiwis and peak immunity from vaccination.
Continuing our current, narrow, and radical path carries costs just too great for how we should want our society to be – inclusive, positive, free, meaningful, and with critical thought embraced. Not a ragtag, groupthink, semi-democracy filled with fear.
Just as an abundance of risk-taking and underreaction is damaging, so is an overreaction of caution and fear hugely damaging. It's time we started enabling our citizens to assess and respond to risks themselve. Its time we let go of Linus's blanket.
"How Auckland avoided the hundreds of Covid deaths in Sydney and Melbourne. The outbreaks in Sydney and Melbournes have each claimed more than 500 lives."
Further down: "Mike Hosking: Damning report on Covid-19 response tells us what we already know. Opinion: Government's Covid response has been lacking since day one."
The response has been so lacking we've missed out on having thousands more deaths. So lacking 190,000 have come through MIQ and got on with their lives back here.
I see Fiji, population less than a million, has had 56,000 covid cases to our <12,000 and 696 deaths compared to our 44. Our response in not free-wheeling has clearly been lacking, a real disaster.
I was talking to a buddy yesty and he is despairing. Slow to get vaccinated as he had all sorts of auto-immune issues start after his first round of vaccines as an infant.
Now, as an employer, he is having to face up to some of his staff and tell them their employment is untenable due to their understandable reluctance. Try replacing experienced kitchen staff who can work at a high standard. Even complying all this may not save the business, a business that him and his wife work at 70 + hours a week. As well as a few members of the family.
Then to add insult to injury, it isn't necessarily the unvaxxed that are the concern, the omicron was bought into Aus and spread by a fully vaccinated person.
A vaccine which is inadequate to make us free..but inadequate to mandate and divide the country?
None of you actually make arguments except: smugness that there is danger. So what? We all know that. That's not an argument for Stockholm Syndrome of a country.
And the next variant, and the next, and the next? I genuinely think many people can't let go, regardless. I'm not prone to exaggeration generally but I think we'll look back and see when Nz lost something immense.
As explained by modellers and professional advisors relying on modelling, there are multiple scenarios checked, and then the calculations/outcomes usually presented as best case, worst case and probable which is hopefully in the middle somewhere.
Worst case scenarios are labelled as that along with the assumptions behind them. We have avoided those worst case scenarios by understanding those assumptions and taking measures to minimise them. This is not a failure of modelling, it is a success.
That said, to quote someone else, "all modelling is wrong, some modelling is useful".
I've got a magic murder spray. I wear it and it protects me from murder.
You want proof? I haven't been murdered yet.
Correlation does not equal causation.
Modelling is not any kind of science or objectivity if its not falsifiable. If ANY outcome validates the approach then this is ridiculous. This is not some goddam hypothetical computer model of stock market events, its peoples livelihoods and freedoms.
If that's what we're going to base the biggest decisions of our country, severe limits to human rights, and medical segregation then we may as well just stir tea leaves and dance around the fire instead to foretell the future.
Modelling is a branch of mathematics using probabilities, not scientific method in and of itself. Epidemiology's fundamental concepts of R0 and Re are mathematical representations of disease spread developed so modelling can be done.
Modelling had made innumerable predictions, mostly vastly overrated even when pursuing the non-pharmacetical interventions proposed.
There are countless articles in The Atlantic, The Times etc on this. Or from The International Journal of Forecasting:
"Epidemic forecasting has a dubious track-record, and its failures became more prominent with COVID-19. Poor data input, wrong modeling assumptions, high sensitivity of estimates, lack of incorporation of epidemiological features, poor past evidence on effects of available interventions, lack of transparency, errors, lack of determinacy, consideration of only one or a few dimensions of the problem at hand, lack of expertise in crucial disciplines, groupthink and bandwagon effects, and selective reporting are some of the causes of these failures".
As Craig Hall says, it's not scientific method. So why are we basing massive decisions fundamental to society and democracy pretending it is science? And why on earth would we pretend deaths are the only metric?
Talking about lockdown, an interesting new study today. "According to a new study from Brown University: "We find that children born during the pandemic have significantly reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance compared to children born pre-pandemic," wrote the study's authors. "Results highlight that even in the absence of direct SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 illness, the environmental changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is significantly and negatively affecting infant and child development."
Given the average age of Covid-19 deaths in the UK in 2020 was near the overall average age around 79, this does question the tradeoff on child development, just for one example.
And yes, Roblogic can spout all the ridiculous comparisons he wants. NZ is not unvacvinated USA in winter 2020, but I understand rationality doesn't rule now. Emotional-ladden fear responses are what persuades.
We are highly vaccinated NZ heading into summer 2021 with improved treatments even Herr Bloomfield is praising. Our reward? Orange and Red Lights which are Levels 2-4 by another name.
The PM has explicitly ruled out Green this summer. Then what – declining vaccination immunity come Autumn. Freedom then? No, it'll be too dangerous with winter coming up and variant Omega/Zeta/whatever. Our Vaccine Passports will expire – I don't remember my NZ Passport expiring after 6 months – seems to be more effective than the vaccine.
When freedom is a promise of a state drunk on control and caution and a population whose fear-addled brain has diminished, it will never happen.
And the scary truth is…I don't think people want to be free anymore. I think they want a Chinese control and techno-social credit system (the Linus blanket).
Dude I am with you on the OTT mandates and annoying traffic lights. Being stuck in Auckland lockdown has tested my (already questionable) sanity.
But what Jacinda and Ashley have done right, is listen to the experts. I don't get why people hate science, when it has saved us from a nationwide tragedy.
A man who allegedly shone a laser at a rescue helicopter, was tracked by the pilot and later arrested by police.
The incident took place in South Dunedin about 1.45am on Thursday, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said. The pilot of the Otago Regional Rescue helicopter reported a laser was repeatedly shone at the helicopter while it flew over the area.
The pilot was able to pinpoint the address of the property to aid police, Bond said.
Cyber hackers, human rights abusers and corrupt officials will be banned from visiting Australia or investing their ill-gotten gains here, under historic legislation set to sail through the lower house of federal parliament today.
Key points:
The laws will allow the government to sanction individuals in foreign countries who commit human rights abuses
It is partly based on the United States' Magnitsky Act, with similar laws in place in the UK, Canada and European Union
Campaigner Bill Browder said the individual sanctions can effectively deter cyber crime
The proposed laws, which passed the Senate with unanimous support late on Wednesday will allow the Australian government to sanction individuals and entities responsible for "egregious conduct", like threatening international peace and serious human rights violations.
This is sound and strong legislation that has gotten bi-partisan support. I'm curious to know if NZ has anything parallel either operating or proposed?
Please take some time to sign the petition to ban mining on conservation land. Multinational OceanaGold is planning to mine the habitat of Archey's frog:
Archey's Frog is found only in the Coromandel Peninsula and near Te Kuiti in the North Island of New Zealand. This species, along with others in the family, have changed little over the past 200 million years, thus they represent "living fossils".
It has now been more than four years since Prime Minister Rt Hon. Jacinda Ardern promised through the Speech from the Throne that, “there will be no new mines on conservation land.” Yet, since this promise was made, applications for prospecting, exploration, and mining activities have been approved on 150,000 hectares of conservation land.
Payoff for Simon's withdrawal from the contest, I suspect.
If Luxon pulls them back from the brink of being beat by ACT, Simon will have to hold fire. But at least Luxon gets an initially smooth ride from most of the backstabbers.
With Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows now cooperating with the House committee investigating January 6th, Steve Bannon going to jail for contempt of Congress, and DoJ senior lawyer Jeffrey Clark also held in contempt (but now likely to be more fulsome in cooperation), Trump's complicity in the January 6th insurrection is getting more assured/
To date, the political science literature has shown that political polarization leads partisans not only to dislike each other, but to see the other side increasingly as a threat to the country.
Giving people a voice in the process does not mean they will change their minds about the value of the policy. But it does increase the chances that they will see the policy as a sincere attempt to solve problems rather than a form of hidden malice. That, in turn, can help lower the temperature and de-escalate the cycle of polarization.
The same lesson holds for those of us who are not policymakers but ordinary citizens who want to have better conversations about politics. If you think you know what the other side’s real intentions are, think again. What you see as malice might be an unintended side effect. And if you want someone to give you the benefit of the doubt, put in the work of making them feel heard before you make yourself heard.
My mate was recently x-rayed and diagnosed with an age-related degenerative spinal condition and told he wouldn't be seen by a specialist.
As he's deteriorated over the past months he's been seen more than a dozen times by GPs at his PHO, prescribed analgesia by the bucket, seen several physios and been sent home from the ED five times.
Today, after weeks of worsening pain has become intolerable and unable to walk or talk, he was given an MRI scan.
My grubby old mate with the heart of gold and the kindest man I've ever known who's been fobbed off and ignored for months because he is a grubby, little old man who smells, has advanced cancers of the lung, spine, neck and brain. I am fucking incandescent.
This is truly shit Joe909 and my heart goes out to your mate. Sadly this is not an uncommon story, either here or overseas. No wonder so many of us don't trust the medical system. I truly believe that the doctors who actually give a shit are in the minority.
This is the side of the health system which is unacceptable and the clinicians who saw your mate need sorting out. This will require energy and take months.
I can tell by what you wrote that you care a lot about your friend and will continue to do so.
After a severe break to my humerus bone last year, I was continually fobbed off until a local (private) doctor actually looked at my x-rays and got in touch with the right people. They don't even have time to investigate. NZ's chronically underfunded, unmaintained health system is just a temporary lifestyle choice for the medical profession, they make tons more money elsewhere
So sad your old mate was underserved by medics – will be great if lessons are learned, but there's likely more age, class and ethnicity-related rationing of healthcare to come
I predict that the apparent minority of "doctors who actually give a shit" will continue to shrink, as those prepared to undertake the challenging and costly medical training required to evaluate and treat patients will increasingly also need the 'mental toughness' to handle criticism for inevitable mistakes.
Sorry to hear that Joe 909. Bloody sad. We do need more MIR machines and operators, and less rationing. Be there for your mate. I lost a friend in a similar fashion 20 years ago. Thinking of you both.
A pretty typical story joe and your anger is heard loud and clear. Our medical system has become a curate's egg – good in parts.
I actually feel rather sorry for many of the ordinary nurses and clinicians working within the system – it devalues them in many ways, some obvious and other less so. It sure as hell isn't easy working in a large hospital and I've nothing but respect for those who do their honest best at serving their patients.
Yet like Rosemary I'm think a lot of people have lost much faith in the profession as a whole and COVID has only made matters worse in my view.
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On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
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Not really a surprise that 48% of proerties are in trust. Tax avoidance at it finest. At the same time, and may I add in my book no difference in terms of crime intention, gangs have doubled in numvers and a softly, dont rattle the cage approach is applied. Very soon its Mad Max country and it should not be surprising that the educated move to Australia. It has already started.
The video clips of some of those recent gang funeral processions are pretty reminiscent of Mad Max scenes, as are some of those reports of Auckland & East Coast drive-by shoot ups.
You could be right that the educated are moving to Oz, Fw – but what’s your evidence that it’s already started? Anecdata or official statistics?
Tamki's March's were Mad Max.
Two of my colleagues are already on the move and they tell me that they know others do this too, so its info from the ground up – so to speak. Its not surprising really.
There is also likely to be a concerted move to smaller towns and rural areas by those attempting to avoid future big city lockdowns. Panic may well rule for quite a while as the spread continues.
Ah, Australia gets New Zealanders, over years turns them or their offspring into people they don't want, and sends them here as 501s.
When they get here their Mad Max lifestyles make the country so undesirable the educated leave to go to Australia. Is that it?
Christ. A plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel !
Elvira comes up rapids for feeding: Gezza's Stream – video Dailymotion
(Viewers may need to click on the speaker icon for sound. Default seems to be sound muted.)
My very first Gezza's Stream wildlife video, using the 2 megapixel camera of my 3G Samsung clamshell cell phone. July 2016.
I'm so embarrassed that I called these two ducks Miss OB (Orange Beak) and Miss GB (Green Beak), thinking they were both mallard hens. I know now that OB is a hybrid mallard/grey duck drake. They were a breeding couple for that breeding season.
The pair of them took an instant like to my back yard and waddled all around it for several months, looking for & finding insects in the garden and lawns.
https://dai.ly/k1AAWikqXQR7GKiS7zv
Ah. Cracked it!
Copying the "Share" link makes them display here as click n play videos.
Shane Reti needs to jump ship and go to NZ First. I do not think he is a good fit for the National Party with Luxon as leader.
Now that would be interesting. Reti has his profession as a GP and a medical author to fall back on if NZ First does not make it back in 2023.
THEY (National) need HIM to stay. He's Māori, a medical doctor, a moderate, a businessman, sensible, a very careful, precise communicator.
Will be interesting to see what spokesperson role Luxon gives him to tempt him to stay on board.
More to the point – New Zealand needs him – the parliamentary talent puddle is too shallow as it is without losing anyone with any ability at all.
Got that right, Maurice. Quite scary the lack of obvious good material in the House for voters to work with.
Reti would be an asset to any political party.
Yes. He should have been elected leader instead of that unimaginably unmitigated disaster that was Judith Collins.
A journo who agrees with Treetop.
Sidebar heading is: All the reasons Shane Reti shouldn't lead National sound like positives
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300467522/the-national-party-opted-for-predictable-christopher-luxon-over-changemaker-shane-reti
This may have been innovative having two deputy leaders of the National Party, Reti and Willis. Were Luxon not to work out Reti could step in as leader and Willis to become the deputy leader.
no, willis will be next nat leader. notjohn will need to stay clear of passing bus's.
I would have picked Willis over Luxon.
notjohn? Please clarify.
I would hazard a guess that notjohn is Christopher Luxon (he’s NOT John Key).
And that the reference to passing buses is a euphemism for Willis’s ambition.
Just the man for the …job!-his faith is a personal matter,his property investments are a…personal matter.But he turned around Air NZ and Unilever Canada….believe it…or not.
Christopher Luxon's property gains soar as National promises to tackle housing crisis | Stuff.co.nz
"he turned around Air NZ and Unilever Canada"
Yeah …nah….Tui
Totally. More like a gattung/sperings/ferrier whose tenure had favourable conditions with a brief of dont f it up.
2 out of 3 ain't bad eh Teresa.
i knew yesterday that this scheme is bullshit and today it was confirmed.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/hospo-misses-out-on-37m-government-voucher-package-to-reactivate-auckland/Y3QTKI6ORUYVWXACE2LG3THOQM/
How about they pull a Biden and give any welfare dependent family a Christmas bonus – anywhere in our fair land – of say an extra week of benefit and then let these people choose how to spend it?
But no, this is the council owned business recovery package, and the rest of the businesses that have been hit the hardest, the ones that actually have to work to make money, oh well seize the day sucker, and make it work. You are of no importance to Labour.
that is not 'business' support that is throwing money at the Council, another lottery for poor and the desperate to maybe mabye get a ticket in (works so well in MIQ), some money for food banks, and it is cynical to the hilt. No kindness here. No siree, the lady don't support the poor. She supports the rich, she knows where her next job will come from.
They could have announced a little stimulus payment for those that have the least amount of money to spend, for those that lived the last three month on food parcels from charity, but hey now, they need a little Hunger Game lottery is a sexy thing, a whole lot a money thrown at some Council 'attractions', and i am sure that Grant Boy will be so happy if this scheme will also result in an 'underspend'.
Oh and it wont start before Jan 15.
Labour, can't won't will not do a nice thing for those that desperately need a nice thing. The poor. Or the businesses that actually are a week short of closing.
Labour 2023 – does it look like we care?
A bleak analysis, but I actually agree with you & see where you are coming from.
You are flat wrong as usual.
Government isn't directly subsidising alcohol and restaurants.
That is, they are subsidizing family activities.
And taking post codes into account in allocation means it's more likely to assist the less well off
And by targeting post Jan 15 they avoid subsidy into a period no one needs it, and focus on extending the expenditure shoulder.
Ask you own Council to do something.
How much of the taxpayers money have they already had via covid subsidies? And they still want more.
Capitalist’s happy to take socialist money.
Hypocrites.
'it is better to be beautiful…than to be 'nice'-but it is better to be…'nice' than to be…ugly'.
(O.Wilde )
Except he was wrong. It's better to be nice than to be beautiful.
How do you…know?
So many "beautiful people" are reported to be rather nasty. The lifestyle news is full of stories about them.
Best bet is to be beautiful and nice. Works for me.
People have said to me: You are a "nice" B…stard!
No one ever thinks I am beautiful though …….
"So many "beautiful people" are reported to be rather nasty."
I knew quite a few of them in my younger days. They were not necessarily nasty, but were often extremely arrogant and they believed themselves to be superior to the rest of the population. It mattered who your parents were and what school you went to. In reality they were incredibly boring people with little personality. I learnt to avoid them like the plague.
Well perhaps its good for the lottery winners but the news is not so good for those on fixed income struggling with rapidly rising inflation and a council that uses its residents to fund its green wash,
https://auckland.scoop.co.nz/2021/12/climate-levy-a-cash-grab-dressed-up-as-a-green-fig-leaf/
Depressing.
Good territory for National's new Police spokesperson under Luxon to focus on & say what they're going to do about the problem 1. short term, 2. long term.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gang-member-numbers-almost-double-around-the-country-in-five-years/MDXZ4BWDVO3P4I7CWWW6Y6UAPA/.
Loyal, hold the line, and do what you're told, up all night, sleep all day, plenty of mates and as much piss, pot, puss and P as your heart desires.
Life's a party. What's not to like about being a parasitic POS?
/
Being hunted in every breath, being shunned by 99% of society, low likelihood you will get any reward for your work other than a wage, high likelihood of serious beatings and injury, unlikely to have long term relationships, unlikely to get ahead in life, high likelihood your entire group will be attacked without warning, high likelihood of injury causing permanent disability, reasonably high risk of long period of jail, very high likelihood of poverty in old age, high likelihood of shorter than average lifespan.
That the victims of gang offending are almost exclusively in the same group reinforces the parasitic nature of them and their organisations.
Sounds more fun than going to work in some dull job with no real hope of excitement or challenge bringing home just enough to pay off some rich fallas investment for him, or get your own house with a mortgage so big you'll be doing well to pay it off by the time you retire
Out numbering the Army.
Isn't that the intel list of suspected gang associates? The one it's easy to get onto, hard to get off, and only started a few years ago? The one Mickeysavage wrote a post on?
Five years ago was 2016. When the Gang list was first created. Apparently, they've doubled the number on the list since they counted off the ones they already knew about when they compiled the initial list.
How many, I wonder, have been involved for years, just not obviously enough to be added in 2016? How many happen to be, e.g. co-offenders with low-level gang affiliates who got nabbed doing their own thing, rather gang activity? How many have been kicked out or left the gangs since then, but are still on the gang list?
The list is a good intelligence tool. Having it centralised means the information isn't trapped in regional silos, taking ages to figure out the purpose of an individual from the Hawkes' Bay coming into Marlborough.
But it's not a census of gang membership. The Herald is writing cheques their data can't cash.
It's clear now that lockdowns cannot practically stop Delta (here or overseas) and come with significant and negative side effects across the board, including missed cancer screenings and appointments and a range of mental health outcomes.
My young nephew, who already was a somewhat cautious and anxious little chap, is now such a fear filled, reserved boy. At an age he should be exploring and testing boundaries, he's developed to be withdrawn and anxious. Outside = danger danger and he clings to his mask like Linus does to his blanket. It breaks my heart sometimes and I shudder to think of the stunted mental development across children and what this will bring to the future.
It's also becoming clearer that the modelling on Covid infections and ICU was hopelessly over-egged. It's understandable in a way – better to be the scientist who cried wolf than didn't cry at all. Especially when you're being paid $6 million like Professor of Physics Hendy's little venture was.
But this mis-assessment and groupthink happened here and abroad. UK's Freedom Day was meant to be a catastrophic but it wasn't and the UK is looking better positioned for the winter than many European nations. Yes, it came at a cost, but so has our course! (Not least the mass human tragedy that is MIQ).
What's the damage here, in our radical Government policies? Immense, even apart from our main city reduced to a zombietown for months. There is a radical repositon of freedom as conditional, state coercion as forever necessary response (remember, Labour won't be in power forever..), human rights viewed as a barrier not an enabler, techno-solutions embraced to reduce humanity to a single variable, and society already prone to this now let loose on segregation and demonisation. The public interest narrowly redefined by a narrow group of elites.
At what point do people say – 'enough of your ridiculous traffic lights, I'm not buying this false narrative of "you're a Libertarian granny killer" simply because I believe other values (and quality of lives) matter and that loss is part of life we need to rationally asses and respond to and return our democracy'. Summer is the right time to return, as we sit at an extremely low risk level for most Kiwis and peak immunity from vaccination.
Continuing our current, narrow, and radical path carries costs just too great for how we should want our society to be – inclusive, positive, free, meaningful, and with critical thought embraced. Not a ragtag, groupthink, semi-democracy filled with fear.
Just as an abundance of risk-taking and underreaction is damaging, so is an overreaction of caution and fear hugely damaging. It's time we started enabling our citizens to assess and respond to risks themselve. Its time we let go of Linus's blanket.
I scroll down the Herald on my phone.
"How Auckland avoided the hundreds of Covid deaths in Sydney and Melbourne. The outbreaks in Sydney and Melbournes have each claimed more than 500 lives."
Further down: "Mike Hosking: Damning report on Covid-19 response tells us what we already know. Opinion: Government's Covid response has been lacking since day one."
The response has been so lacking we've missed out on having thousands more deaths. So lacking 190,000 have come through MIQ and got on with their lives back here.
I see Fiji, population less than a million, has had 56,000 covid cases to our <12,000 and 696 deaths compared to our 44. Our response in not free-wheeling has clearly been lacking, a real disaster.
And if we had the same infection rate as the UK, we would be having about 400 cases per day, and 20 odd deaths.!!!
You know we go into the full managed Traffic Light system tomorrow right?
Well said James the second.
I was talking to a buddy yesty and he is despairing. Slow to get vaccinated as he had all sorts of auto-immune issues start after his first round of vaccines as an infant.
Now, as an employer, he is having to face up to some of his staff and tell them their employment is untenable due to their understandable reluctance. Try replacing experienced kitchen staff who can work at a high standard. Even complying all this may not save the business, a business that him and his wife work at 70 + hours a week. As well as a few members of the family.
Then to add insult to injury, it isn't necessarily the unvaxxed that are the concern, the omicron was bought into Aus and spread by a fully vaccinated person.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/456975/new-omicron-case-found-in-nsw-hundreds-of-covid-19-swabs-to-be-retested
We need to rethink this traffic light shenanagins. It ain't fit for purpose.
Will Omicron idle at the RED traffic light …. or 'break through' on the ORANGE?
Probably won't wait for the GREEN light.
We need to rethink this traffic light shenanagins. It ain't fit for purpose.
Based on vaccination status…no it ain't.
Not with Omicron, and arguably arguable with Delta.
It's a tricky little virus.
Tricky virus, true.
The fearful, nasty, arrogant attitudes is not necessary and can be avoided, if people would just calm down a little.
Calm down a little…or Rap? This'll cheer us up. Surprised it hasn't been posted already…
lol great stuff
Based on having a highly vaccinated population?
A vaccine which is inadequate to make us free..but inadequate to mandate and divide the country?
None of you actually make arguments except: smugness that there is danger. So what? We all know that. That's not an argument for Stockholm Syndrome of a country.
And the next variant, and the next, and the next? I genuinely think many people can't let go, regardless. I'm not prone to exaggeration generally but I think we'll look back and see when Nz lost something immense.
As explained by modellers and professional advisors relying on modelling, there are multiple scenarios checked, and then the calculations/outcomes usually presented as best case, worst case and probable which is hopefully in the middle somewhere.
Worst case scenarios are labelled as that along with the assumptions behind them. We have avoided those worst case scenarios by understanding those assumptions and taking measures to minimise them. This is not a failure of modelling, it is a success.
That said, to quote someone else, "all modelling is wrong, some modelling is useful".
This is hilarious.
I've got a magic murder spray. I wear it and it protects me from murder.
You want proof? I haven't been murdered yet.
Correlation does not equal causation.
Modelling is not any kind of science or objectivity if its not falsifiable. If ANY outcome validates the approach then this is ridiculous. This is not some goddam hypothetical computer model of stock market events, its peoples livelihoods and freedoms.
If that's what we're going to base the biggest decisions of our country, severe limits to human rights, and medical segregation then we may as well just stir tea leaves and dance around the fire instead to foretell the future.
Modelling is a branch of mathematics using probabilities, not scientific method in and of itself. Epidemiology's fundamental concepts of R0 and Re are mathematical representations of disease spread developed so modelling can be done.
Modelling predicted that if we didn't lock down thousands would die.
The UK and USA were the idiotic control groups; allowing the pandemic free rein killed hundreds of thousands needlessly.
Vaccine hesitancy and basic ignorance of science are the biggest obstacles to us having wider freedoms.
Modelling had made innumerable predictions, mostly vastly overrated even when pursuing the non-pharmacetical interventions proposed.
There are countless articles in The Atlantic, The Times etc on this. Or from The International Journal of Forecasting:
"Epidemic forecasting has a dubious track-record, and its failures became more prominent with COVID-19. Poor data input, wrong modeling assumptions, high sensitivity of estimates, lack of incorporation of epidemiological features, poor past evidence on effects of available interventions, lack of transparency, errors, lack of determinacy, consideration of only one or a few dimensions of the problem at hand, lack of expertise in crucial disciplines, groupthink and bandwagon effects, and selective reporting are some of the causes of these failures".
As Craig Hall says, it's not scientific method. So why are we basing massive decisions fundamental to society and democracy pretending it is science? And why on earth would we pretend deaths are the only metric?
Talking about lockdown, an interesting new study today. "According to a new study from Brown University: "We find that children born during the pandemic have significantly reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance compared to children born pre-pandemic," wrote the study's authors. "Results highlight that even in the absence of direct SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 illness, the environmental changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is significantly and negatively affecting infant and child development."
Given the average age of Covid-19 deaths in the UK in 2020 was near the overall average age around 79, this does question the tradeoff on child development, just for one example.
And yes, Roblogic can spout all the ridiculous comparisons he wants. NZ is not unvacvinated USA in winter 2020, but I understand rationality doesn't rule now. Emotional-ladden fear responses are what persuades.
We are highly vaccinated NZ heading into summer 2021 with improved treatments even Herr Bloomfield is praising. Our reward? Orange and Red Lights which are Levels 2-4 by another name.
The PM has explicitly ruled out Green this summer. Then what – declining vaccination immunity come Autumn. Freedom then? No, it'll be too dangerous with winter coming up and variant Omega/Zeta/whatever. Our Vaccine Passports will expire – I don't remember my NZ Passport expiring after 6 months – seems to be more effective than the vaccine.
When freedom is a promise of a state drunk on control and caution and a population whose fear-addled brain has diminished, it will never happen.
And the scary truth is…I don't think people want to be free anymore. I think they want a Chinese control and techno-social credit system (the Linus blanket).
Dude I am with you on the OTT mandates and annoying traffic lights. Being stuck in Auckland lockdown has tested my (already questionable) sanity.
But what Jacinda and Ashley have done right, is listen to the experts. I don't get why people hate science, when it has saved us from a nationwide tragedy.
Where did you get your "magic murder spray" (as claimed @ 5;59 pm) from, James?
Good one, that pilot!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/127160705/extremely-dangerous-and-idiotic-man-arrested-after-allegedly-shining-laser-at-rescue-helicopter
even more important because we can expect rescue helicopter flights to increase once covid arrives.
An interesting new piece of Australian legislation:
This is sound and strong legislation that has gotten bi-partisan support. I'm curious to know if NZ has anything parallel either operating or proposed?
Lordie if only.
It would be a step but it would also be a useful bipartisan proposal for Republicans and Democrats – especially in the Senate.
Sanctions against human rights abuses ??against threatening international peace ??eh ?Hows that gonna work arnt the ausies best mates with america ??
Please take some time to sign the petition to ban mining on conservation land. Multinational OceanaGold is planning to mine the habitat of Archey's frog:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archey%27s_frog
https://action.greens.org.nz/no_new_mines
Please help us let the Govt know that they need to uphold their promises.
Warning – attempt at humour
What is the most common trait of National Party politicians?
Dunning-Kruger
Don't give up the day job!
Keep you friends close and your enemies closer.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/12/simon-bridges-given-coveted-finance-portfolio-after-stepping-aside-to-let-national-elect-christopher-luxon.html
This could backfire. If Luxon slips up, looks weak, or the polls don’t seriously improve, Simon is poised ready to pounce.
Worked out pretty well for Helen Clark and John Key
Both had more experience and showed little weakness.
Payoff for Simon's withdrawal from the contest, I suspect.
If Luxon pulls them back from the brink of being beat by ACT, Simon will have to hold fire. But at least Luxon gets an initially smooth ride from most of the backstabbers.
With Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows now cooperating with the House committee investigating January 6th, Steve Bannon going to jail for contempt of Congress, and DoJ senior lawyer Jeffrey Clark also held in contempt (but now likely to be more fulsome in cooperation), Trump's complicity in the January 6th insurrection is getting more assured/
Jan. 6 panel recommends Jeffrey Clark be held in contempt, but gives him leeway – Roll Call
Yes fanstastic news for Rachael Madow fans !!!
Yanks finally figure out partisan political psychology is toxic: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/11/30/why-american-politics-is-so-stuck-and-what-new-research-shows-about-how-to-fix-it-523517
How come James Shaw is allowed to isolate at home, whereas Nanaia Mahuta has to go to a MIQ facility?
Nanaia has young family?
My mate was recently x-rayed and diagnosed with an age-related degenerative spinal condition and told he wouldn't be seen by a specialist.
As he's deteriorated over the past months he's been seen more than a dozen times by GPs at his PHO, prescribed analgesia by the bucket, seen several physios and been sent home from the ED five times.
Today, after weeks of worsening pain has become intolerable and unable to walk or talk, he was given an MRI scan.
My grubby old mate with the heart of gold and the kindest man I've ever known who's been fobbed off and ignored for months because he is a grubby, little old man who smells, has advanced cancers of the lung, spine, neck and brain. I am fucking incandescent.
This is truly shit Joe909 and my heart goes out to your mate. Sadly this is not an uncommon story, either here or overseas. No wonder so many of us don't trust the medical system. I truly believe that the doctors who actually give a shit are in the minority.
This is the side of the health system which is unacceptable and the clinicians who saw your mate need sorting out. This will require energy and take months.
I can tell by what you wrote that you care a lot about your friend and will continue to do so.
After a severe break to my humerus bone last year, I was continually fobbed off until a local (private) doctor actually looked at my x-rays and got in touch with the right people. They don't even have time to investigate. NZ's chronically underfunded, unmaintained health system is just a temporary lifestyle choice for the medical profession, they make tons more money elsewhere
So sad your old mate was underserved by medics – will be great if lessons are learned, but there's likely more age, class and ethnicity-related rationing of healthcare to come
I predict that the apparent minority of "doctors who actually give a shit" will continue to shrink, as those prepared to undertake the challenging and costly medical training required to evaluate and treat patients will increasingly also need the 'mental toughness' to handle criticism for inevitable mistakes.
Sorry to hear that Joe 909. Bloody sad. We do need more MIR machines and operators, and less rationing. Be there for your mate. I lost a friend in a similar fashion 20 years ago. Thinking of you both.
Hold them to account.
https://www.hdc.org.nz/making-a-complaint/
A pretty typical story joe and your anger is heard loud and clear. Our medical system has become a curate's egg – good in parts.
I actually feel rather sorry for many of the ordinary nurses and clinicians working within the system – it devalues them in many ways, some obvious and other less so. It sure as hell isn't easy working in a large hospital and I've nothing but respect for those who do their honest best at serving their patients.
Yet like Rosemary I'm think a lot of people have lost much faith in the profession as a whole and COVID has only made matters worse in my view.
Can someone please reboot Auckland Council? It appears to be malfunctioning.
Failing to hold AT to Climate Change commitments – instead we get more roads, bugger all for alternate modes.
Making the housing crisis into a disaster, doing the usual Nimby shit
Can't be bothered protecting trees
https://twitter.com/fundypost/status/1466249650596241411?s=20
Fuck me Auckland lost another massive Pohutakawa today outside the church on Kyhber Pass…
Council talks about the need to green the city millions to buy and plant mature trees.
How bout we stop cutting them down… bloody sad.
Ironic
https://twitter.com/phil_goff/status/1465811663102177282?s=20
Goff, Brown, Banks, Hubbard …… a pox on the lot of them.